Chapter 22

~.~

This chapter mentions child abuse, so reader discretion is heavily advised.

February 18, 2023

(Becky's POV)

I wake up in a cold sweat.

I can see the beginning hours of daylight outside, but it's still pretty dark.

I look to my right to see Eret, fast asleep.

Penny, as usual, jumps up on the bed to give me comfort. I scratch her favorite spot, right behind her left ear.

I creep out of bed and head down the hall to where my six-year old daughter, Ruby, is sleeping.

She's also fast asleep.

I go to the fire escape, thinking about the dream I just had.

How had any of that occurred just in my dream, and not in my waking hours?

Either I had travelled to an alternate universe with anthropomorphic foxes and rabbits (and other animals) with cars and phones and trains and houses…or I had the craziest dream. And I fell in love with a fox.

Eret had also…he did what Drago had done to me.

Why would my imagination or consciousness think up such crazy images?

Eret would never hurt me. Period.

I hear a window opening and Eret coming out of it.

"My love, are you alright?"

"No."

My husband sits down next to me and attempts to wrap an arm around me. I flinch away, remembering how he had hurt me in my…dream…or nightmare…whatever it was.

"Are you in pain?"

"Not right now."

"What's wrong?"

"I just…I just had the craziest dream."

So I go on to explain the dream to the best of my ability, starting with me coming into that world of…Zootopia. Meeting a fox named Nick. Eret…attacking me…trying to kill me…everything.

"That is one crazy dream, my love. Just know that I would never hurt you like my ex-boss did, or in any other way. Period."

"Thank you, Eret."

"You're not scared of me, are you? Because of the dream?"

"I honestly don't know."

"Honey, you know I would never hurt you. Not intentionally, at least."

"I know you wouldn't. But that nightmare was so real, was so horrible…"

"But your nightmare is over. If you'd like, I can sleep on the couch for the next few nights."

It's then I break down. Eret has suffered so much over the years, and here I am scared of him because of a stupid nightmare.

I let him wrap his arms around me, and we stay there, even though it's 44° Fahrenheit outside, and we're both in our PJs.

"Mama?" Is what breaks me out of my sobbing a few minutes later.

I look up, and see our six-year old daughter, sleepy-eyed, carrying the blanket I handed down to her.

That's right. I gave my beloved baby blanket to my daughter.

(IRL, I don't plan on giving my blanket to my children, because I never plan on having children)

"What are you doing up, my little love?" Eret asks.

"I had a scary dream."

"You, as well, I see."

"Mama had a scary dream, too?"

"I sure did."

"What was yours about, my little love?"

It's then my daughter breaks down in tears, covering her face with her blanket.

Eret carefully and gently lifts her out of the window and holds her in his arms. I rub her back.

"Shhh. You're okay, my little love. You're okay."

"Th-the bad man was hurting me. Like he hurt Mama before I was born."

Eret and I look at each other, tears glistening in our eyes.

My nightmare forgotten by both me and Eret, I stroke my daughter's hair to let her know I'm here.

"Sweetheart, has anyone ever touched you in a place that made you feel uncomfortable?" I ask.

My daughter surprisingly nods.

"My little love, when did this occur?"

"A…a few days ago at school…I'm sorry, Daddy. I was scared to tell anyone. He made me promise not to tell anyone…or…or he'd kill me."

"Shhh. It's not your fault, our sweet jewel. Tell us who hurt you and we'll report them to your Great Uncle Stoick."

"It was one of the bad man's people. Who worked for the bad man. His…his name was…Gustavo."

"Thank you for telling us, Ruby. We know exactly who you're talking about. We'll talk to your Great Uncle Stoick."

~.~

We soon get to the police station, and head straight to Stoick's office.

"Chief Stoick? We need your help."

Stoick looks up from his paperwork and sees us, Ruby in her dad's arms, almost asleep.

"Please come in, and close the door behind you."

I close the door behind me and we sit down.

"How may I help you?"

"Ruby was recently assaulted…by Gustavo, one of…one of his men." I say, tears welling in my eyes.

"Oh, gods. Why would anyone hurt someone so innocent?"

"That's what we're asking ourselves, Stoick. But we have a feeling it's to get back at us for Drago's death." Eret says.

"I'll see what I can do. I can't guarantee we can take the case. You need to understand that. It's nothing personal, it's just that we, sadly, get hundreds of assault cases every week, and this one is just adding to the pile."

I stand up, outraged, pushing the chair behind me.

"What is my daughter to you? A statistic?!"

"Ma'am, I understand you're upset."

"Do you, Stoick? Do you really? Was your child ever assaulted like my daughter was?"

"No, but he was bullied. Heavily. And he almost took his own life. I don't want your daughter to end up like that, almost taking her own life."

I sit, taking this in. Hiccup never told me he was bullied when we started dating back in high school.

"I'm sorry for lashing out at you, Stoick."

"It's not your fault. You're understandably upset about your daughter. I'm just saying that we may not be able to take the case. You need to take her to a specialist as soon as possible. When was she assaulted?"

"A few days ago, at school."

"Stoick, please, we need to make sure that Gustavo doesn't hurt anyone else like he hurt our daughter." Eret says.

"We'll send out a warrant for his arrest, but I can't guarantee that we'll be able to find him."

"Do what you must. Thank you, Stoick." I say.

"You're welcome. I'm so sorry she went through that. That you, as a family, are going through that."

"Thank you."

We head home and book an appointment with a sexual assault specialist for the following day.

Ruby, exhausted, gets tucked back into bed by her dad.

He finds me in the same spot I was in just a few hours before.

"Honey?"

"It's my fault. This is all my fault."

"How is it your fault?"

"If I had just let you take me home that night instead of insisting I walk home, Drago never would've kidnapped me."

"That would also mean he'd still be alive, and possibly hurting more people. It's not your fault, my love."

"Who should I blame, then?"

"Blame the one person responsible for this: Gustavo. He's the only one responsible for this occurring. Not you, not Ruby, not me. Gustavo."

~.~

We soon hear on the news that Gustavo has been arrested, thankfully.

We've since been to see the specialist, and Ruby was such a trooper during the appointment. She did cry, but they were silent tears.

Afterwards, we take her out for ice cream to hopefully cheer her up, and we let her order as a big a sundae as she wants, with as many toppings as she wants.

We head home, me sitting in the back with Ruby. She's fallen asleep on my shoulder and I wrap an arm around her, sharing a concerned look with my husband.

All three of us have suffered because of Drago, either directly or indirectly. We know it'll be hard recovering from our abuse, but we know we'll get through it as a family.